How to Align Page Numbers in the Table of Contents

[saxtonstudio]

What am I doing / not doing to cause the page numbers to fall on the second line? I seem to recall something about adding tab settings...? (Another thread I saw suggeated "right indent tab" after the Between Entry and Number, but that didn't change things.) Two screenshots attached for reference.

<Title renamed by MOD>

[saxtonstudio]

Thanks Robert  – I read through it, and it felt above and beyond where I'm at with mine. I'm getting the title number showing (even though it's apparently the wrong code!), so I've just started adding the space between number and title manually.  Not ideal, as I'll have to do it again when TOC updates, but it's doable in lieu of more technical flair. C'est la vie for now.

[Peter Spier]

Pragmatism usually wins out on deadline. ;7]

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@saxtonstudio

GREP can do this. 

Find:

(^.)

Change:

[space]$0

Of course instead of "[space]" you need to insert actual space and run it only on the TOC Story.

[saxtonstudio]

You are correct! THANK YOU.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Just to be cranky, I usually use ^t and ensure it's formatted for right-alignment (usually while I am fine-tuning the leader and number styles). If there's a difference between how that comes out in the generated result, I can't spot it. Using ^y is a shortcut to the basic result, though, and avoids problems with a default left-aligned tab.

I tend to fuss over TOC styling, though, so using the simpler alternative might be best for most/novice users.

[saxtonstudio]

James, I really am not technical enough to know why, but the ^y is doing the trick for me for alignment so for now I'll stick with it! 

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

That's all good; it's very much the right choice if you want right-aligned numbers with a minimum of fuss. Willi's advice is spot-on.

I was just having some fun with the method  — when/if you ever get fussy about your TOCs, and have different tabs for different levels, and apply styles to numbers AND the leader tab/spacing in between... my cranky little points will make sense. Maybe not enough to use them, but that's the overall context.

The takeaway is that ID has really good control of TOC formatting, should you ever need it.

[saxtonstudio]

I'll keep that in mind! I hate to admit but I've been doing TOC's manually for years. (I know... ) I'd really like to nail it. But have to start simple. (Also please feel free to reply to my comment under Willi's last message... I'll take help wherever it comes from!)

[Peter Spier]

Rather thna using a ^t and setting it to right aligned with different positions I would advocate for using ^y and setting a right indent amount for tiers that need an indented number. Only reason I have for preferring this is if you find yourself adjusting the width of the text frame for some reason ^y moves with width automatically and ^t does not.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I wouldn't disagree. The relative-right tab always defaults to the right margin, but is responsive to inset, and so needs no adjustment as you change the frame. And setting an indent is quicker and easier than setting a tab.

[saxtonstudio]

Did you guys see my earlier note up there asking why my page numbers aren't updating within the TOC? "... it looks great but the page numbers aren't updating and the "update Table of Contents" option under Layout is grayed out. Help!" I would love to get this really right.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@saxtonstudio

As you can have more than one TOC in the document - you need to select any TextFrame of the TOC you want to update first.

[saxtonstudio]

I only have one TOC.  I've tried selecting the text box, selecting the text., and just placing cursor within box. I'm probably missing something fundamental. 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@saxtonstudio

Maybe your file got corrupted? 

Please try IDMLing - export as IDML, open, save with a new name - do not overwrite your original file. 

[saxtonstudio]

Just tried that, same result. Then I went back to a prior version, clicked on the TOC box, and the Update was available there! The only difference between the two that I can see, is that in one the TOC text is part of the entire book's text thread, and in the other one (that shows Update availabe) the TOC text is only threaded to itself. Would that make a difference? (And of course I formatted all the pages on other one... ugh.)

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@saxtonstudio

If you've linked TOC to the main Story - it's no longer recognised as an automatic TOC, unfortunately.

But there is no reason to panic - just remove contents of the "broken" TOC and generate new one. 

I think you should be able to copy TOC from the other document and update. 

[saxtonstudio]

Working on it. BUT clarification, please: should the TOC pages (there are 3) only link to themselves, and NOT to the rest of the text? ...........PS: That's what I'm doing, and so far so good.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Yes, TOC should be a separate Story - you can add extra TextFrames to reflow it, by clicking on the "outport" - but you shouldn't link it with other texts. 

[saxtonstudio]

Amazing! (I did say I thoiught it was probably something fundamental, I think!) 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

So it's working now? 

[saxtonstudio]

Thank you, yes!! It had gone wrong because I had it linked to everything else. Now it works like a charm. I am very happy!. 🙂

[Peter Spier]

TOC should NEVER link to another story. Updating TOC removes the entire story thread that contaions it and replaces it with the new TOC so you could wind up with an enirely blank document except for the title of your TOC.

It sounds like the newer version of InDesign may prevent you from doing this accidentally, but we used to see users here who made that mistake from time to time.

[saxtonstudio]

Yes, lesson learned, and thankfully not the hard way you described from the past.